At World Fantasy, there is never any shortage of wonderful new books. This year, there were a couple of “it” books which seemed to have everyone talking: N.K. Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” (excitement which was certainly fueled by N.K.’s excellent reading of a cliffhanger chapter) and “Soulless“, by Gail Carriger. Sadly, N.K. Jemisin’s book won’t officially be out until February of 2010 (which resulted in me trying to stealthily steal an ARC that Naamen Tilahun was passing on to Rachel & Mike Swirsky) but Soulless (which had just been released) was everywhere—in the dealer’s room, in the party suite, in the white-gloved hands of the glamorous Ms. Carriger. Having gotten a copy of it from the Borderlands table, I had to then hide it away in my suitcase to keep myself from playing hooky from the con I’d traveled hundreds of miles to attend. This should give you an idea of what a delightful and addictive confection this book is. And rather mind-altering as well: I have never understood the appeal of werewolves, but this book single-handedly put werewolf-as-romantic-hero on the map for me. Throw in over-the-top vampires, a smart and funny heroine, and some extremely clever historical ret-conning, and you’ve got a book that steamed all my gears in just the right way. I’ll definitely have an eye peeled for the next book in the series, which comes out in March. Go parasols!